The Redeemed Christian Church of God has said that social media does not dictate who is ordained a pastor following the recent questioning of Senator Remi Tinubu’s ordination by some Twitter users.
Recall that a video showing Senator Tinubu talking about the Igbo and their alleged refusal to align with Lagos’ local politics surfaced online last weekend, attracting harsh criticism from a section of social media.
The wife of the former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in the video was complaining that the Igbos residing in the state “were proving difficult despite the love shown to them”.
She can be heard saying, “We will entreat all the deities of Lagos to chase Igbo people out. Igbo who didn’t marry Yoruba, we will inherit them. Given how much we love Igbo, you now want to spoil everything.
“You are not the only tribe in this place, Hausa are here, we accommodate them, Calabar are here, we accommodate them. But Igbo are proving difficult. We will inherit you.
“Despite the love we have for you… others are here and we accommodated them.”
Many found the utterances distasteful, while many others rose in her defence, arguing that she was only joking.
In her defence, @4eyedmonk said, “…How can you say Remi Tinubu hates Igbo when in the same video she said, ‘Pelu ba she nife yin to,’ meaning, ‘considering how much we love you “Igbo?’”
@BadmusAdeyemi12, said, “She was just joking in the video. She didn’t mean what she was saying. That could be seen in her gesture.”
On the other hand, @drpenking said, “Sometimes I wish RCCG were like Jehovah’s Witnesses. You can’t consistently bring the image of the church into disrepute. They’ll disfellowship you no matter who you are and they’ll shun you like a leper. Remi Tinubu has dealt with RCCG‘s image so much.”
The Punch reached out to the RCCG Head of Media and Public Relations, Pastor Olaitan Olubiyi, who disclosed that the church was not aware of the video.
When told what the video was about, he pointed out that the senator was not speaking as a pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God.
When pressed for comments on the reactions the video had generated, he said, “I’m not in a position to answer that because the church knows what it considers before ordination and social media does not dictate to the church what the church should do. She has her life.”
